A Comparative Investigation of First and Fourth Year Pre-service Teachers’ Expectations and Perceptions of Emotional Intelligence

Abstract

This article reports on the perceptions and expectations of pre-service teachers (PSTs) on the role of Emotional Intelligence (EI) taught as part of a teacher preparation course. The research was conducted across core units in first and fourth years of an undergraduate education degree in an Australian university. The researchers used a mixed method study. Online survey data from 208 students were analysed, using descriptive statistics for quantitative data and thematic analysis for open-ended responses. Results indicate that PSTs' understandings of EI included awareness and management of emotions in oneself and others. They perceived EI as highly important to teachers in various aspects of teaching such as classroom management, student well-being and classroom pedagogy. Additionally, first year students stated that they expected to learn about EI in their teacher education program, however fourth year students expressed that they had not learnt about EI during their course.

Construction and Validation of Emotional Intelligence Scale for Secondary School Teachers

“…Emotional intelligence helps improve teaching effectiveness, teaching role, motivation, personal wellbeing, teamwork, and leadership qualities (Mérida-López & Extremera, 2017)to establish their goals for professional life (Brockbank & McGill, 2007). Emotionally intelligent teachers' role is essential in students' learning, teacher students' relationship, learning environment, teaching and learning process, and academic achievement (Gallardo, Tan, & Gindidis, 2019). Although there are many contradictions in the components and measurements of Emotional intelligence (Zeidner & Matthews, 2017), another difficulty is the diversity of emotional intelligence models that can be used with various tools.…”